HealthSouth wants to send subpoenas to Briarwood School for Scrushy data

HealthSouth attorneys are still tracing the assets of former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy, who was worth about $300 million in 2003, according to federal authorities.

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- HealthSouth Corp. has filed intent to seek new information about Richard Scrushy's financial relationship with Briarwood Christian School, as the hunt for his assets continues into a fourth year following a huge court judgment against him.

Lawyers for the company, who have the right to seize Scrushy's assets for payment to the Birmingham-based corporation, filed papers in Jefferson County Circuit Court last week on the matter.

The papers say the company plans to soon file a request for issuance of subpoenas to Birmingham's Briarwood, a private school offering classes from kindergarten through 12th grade.

A copy of the proposed subpoena attached to the filing says HealthSouth is seeking financial records related to any contributions made to the school by the Richard M. Scrushy Charitable Foundation.

It is all part of the hunt for the assets of the ex-HealthSouth chief executive who was deposed after an accounting fraud investigation became public knowledge in 2003. Shareholders of HealthSouth in 2009 won a civil case against Scrushy in Jefferson County Circuit Court, after presenting evidence he directed the publicly traded hospital operator to falsify earnings and other financial information from 1996 through 2002.

Shareholders presented evidence at the trial HealthSouth in those years reported phony profits of $1.3 billion, while incurring actual losses of $2.4 billion, to prop up the stock price and trigger bonuses for executives.

Scrushy was ordered to pay HealthSouth $2.8 billion in damages; about $100 million has been collected from him so far. HealthSouth has agreed to a conditional understanding with Scrushy that he has no other assets to satisfy the civil judgment.

Still, the search goes on. The proposed subpoenas are also seeking to trace money that might have been paid out to Briarwood from Scrushy associates. They include Bessemer minister Scott Moore, who formed charitable religious organizations with Scrushy after the former CEO's legal and financial troubles began.

Scrushy was released from federal prison this year after a 2006 conviction for bribing former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman for a spot on the state hospital permitting board. He was sent to a halfway house in San Antonio in April, court records show. Attempts to reach him through his attorneys were unsuccessful.